re: Williamson County, TN: Male student masturbates in class, IEP rules protect him

Now that I have a little more time, I have seen thousands of IEPs over the years. Most of them are legitimate - as I said above.

Johnny has trouble hearing/seeing. He should be allowed to always sit near the front of the class.

Susie has trouble reading at her grade level. She should be given extra time on assignments that require reading.

Those are valid concerns and what the framers of the IEP protocols had in mind. Unfortunately, the same program meant to help students is being abused.

Things like:

The student gets angry when you make eye contact with them. Avoid making eye contact.

The student has a bad temper. Do not correct them if they lash out.

I guarantee there isn't an IEP that says that this student can jack off in class. But there is probably an IEP that is so vague about behavior that has scared teachers and administrators into allowing it. Combine it with a lawsuit minded parent and I'm not surprised that you get a situation like this.

The comment about parents being told they will cause trouble tells me that this is a kid with a parent attached that is just looking for a reason to sue.

When I was in K-12 admin, had one get all the way to me at central office. Doors lock automatically for safety. A student was frightened of locked doors. Administrator told the parent they weren't going to leave doors unlocked for her. Parent (single mom) lawyered up.

We had to disable the locks.